Reddit takes on Impaired Driving Laws
http://np.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/37yqus/i_found_a_drunk_guy_that_i_tried_to_help/crr32mb
Rule 2: Whether you are in a state that combines operation and driving under one element, or if you are in a state that has separate statutes for impaired driving or operating while impaired, I know of no state that has a per se rule that possession of the keys constitutes operation.
Operation at a bare minimum requires the engine to be running or keys to be inserted into the ignition.
Caveat: possession of keys can be corroborating evidence to support an allegation of operation or driving in a corpus delicti type situations that arises in wrecks or instances in which the operator has left the vehicle or shut the engine off.
But as a whole you can be impaired and sitting in a car with the keys in your possession so long as you don't do something more like start the engine or put the keys in the ignition.
I know I'm being niggling and it is better if people were to put the keys in an area where they could not actually possess them, but at the same time, misperceptions such as this only serve to demean the severity of impaired driving offenses.
Posted May 31, 2015, 10:35 PM UTC
You can be charged with DUI if you are in "actual physical control" in Florida (and other states) by just being in your car and having your keys nearby. I've read cases about people who were in the passenger seat and someone else was driving but they broke down and the sober person left (to get help or something) and the cops charged the drunk person with DUI because they were in actual physical control.
Chiming in that APC is chargeable in Alabama as well. Hell, our 1L legal writing memo was all about it.
Mine was too! I probably quoted some Alabama cases. I was shocked by how open ended it was. People got convictions for being drunk in their own driveway and another had a flat tire, but the court said the defendant could have changed the tire and started to drive drunk. I guess one should slash two tires before drunk napping in their car?
Haha. Did you find the case where the guy was sitting in a totally inoperable car being towed on a chain?
Our fact pattern was kind of fun. Involved Taylor Swift and an antique car that had to be started by crank.
Ours involved a key fob. You know, the kind where when the key fob is close to the car, you can push the button to start the car. Well the person was drunk and the key fob was in the cabin of the car in her purse (maybe in the backseat). The question was whether this would constitute actual physical control even though she was unaware the key fob was with her. As you can imagine, it was a toss up (if for no other reason than the problems with new tech). What isn't a toss up is when the key is in your grab area. Those are clear cut.
I don't remember anyone being towed, but it does not surprise me.
The guy being towed is completely legitimate given that operation of the brake pedal was necessary based upon the manner in which he was being towed.
I know people that claim to have gotten a ticket for "intent to commit DUI" in Nebraska while sleeping it off in the back seat because the keys were in the front seat.
I'm pretty sure they're lying, but that's besides the point.
Do you have an actual cite for this, especially the broad definition of "actual physical control"?
Ala. Code 32-5A-191 uses actual physical control as the standard. Judicial gloss defines it pretty broadly, but if you're sitting in the driver's seat with a key, you're probably getting charged.
Well I'll be damned.
That said, OP's claim about being in the backseat with the keys doesn't seem to fit the actual physical control that the courts have developed.
You're probably safe in the backseat (if I remember correctly), but just put the keys in the trunk or glovebox or something. Don't keep them in your hand or in your grab area. Actual physical control is a ridiculous doctrine. Also, I personally probably wouldn't even sleep in the backseat. The cases that I've read that have been upheld seemed to contravene common sense (note the case about the flat tire I mentioned earlier). So ¯_(ツ)_/¯
You can Google it or search it in Westlaw. It's a term of art, so it's easy to find.
Edit: http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/P/PhysicalControl.aspx
There's plenty in there for you.